ECB policymakers united on stimulus measures - as it happened
- ECB minutes reveal broad support for stimulus
- Fed minutes make April rate rise unlikely
- European markets nudge lower
- New M&S boss makes straight-talking debut
- Police called to Daimler AGM as row breaks out over free sausages
- UK productivity falls at fastest rate since 2008
2.40pm BST
That's it for today folks. Thank you for reading and commenting and please join us again tomorrow morning for more rolling news.
2.35pm BST
Investors appear to be jittery about the global outlook and general uncertainty about when the Fed might next raise rates.
2.31pm BST
John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor, has commented on those weak UK productivity numbers:
Latest productivity figures showing the largest quarterly fall since 2008 are deeply concerning. It comes only weeks after the Office for Budget Responsibility revised down forecasts for growth due to weak productivity expectations throughout this Parliament.
George Osborne has been chancellor for six years now and has made almost no progress with what may be the biggest challenge facing Britain's economy. It's about time he listened to the coalition of voices calling for more investment in infrastructure, to boost productivity, as well as addressing the skills shortage which is being reported by employers across the economy.
2.21pm BST
The number of people claiming for unemployment benefits in America dropped more than expected last week.
New jobless claims fell 9,000 to 267,000 (seasonally adjusted) for the week ended 2 April, the US Labor Department said.
2.11pm BST
Reaction to the ECB minutes...
Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics:
The minutes of the ECB's monetary policy meeting on March 10th may reinforce concerns that the Governing Council is starting to run out of ammunition.
There appears to have been broad support for the package of measures unveiled at the meeting... However, there were differences of opinion about the merits of the different components, with some members expressing concerns over some of the side-effects e.g. the effect of more negative interest rates on banks' profitability. A few members - presumably led by the Bundesbank's Jens Weidmann - also objected to the expansion of asset purchases. There was broader support for the TLTROs.
Having delivered a major package of measures in March, we believe the ECB will now likely remain in "wait and see" mode for an extended period.
Nevertheless, senior ECB policymakers have actually been out in force on Thursday indicating that the ECB is willing and able to take further stimulative action should it deem it necessary.
1.45pm BST
Following on from Mario Draghi's gloomy comments published in the ECB's annual report earlier today, minutes from the governing council's latest meeting have been released.
Taking into account the views expressed by the members of the governing council, the president concluded that a large majority of voting members supported the proposed policy package.
Overall, the recovery in the euro area economy was expected to continue at a more subdued pace, while the risks to the growth outlook were mostly seen to remain tilted to the downside. These risks related in particular to the heightened uncertainties regarding the external environment and to broader geopolitical risks.
Against this background, members reiterated the necessity for other policy areas to support sustained output growth and that monetary policy on its own was not sufficient. There was a need for both structural reforms and fiscal policy to also play their part.
12.26pm BST
The yen has hit a 17-month high against the dollar, following the Fed's cautious stance revealed in the FOMC minutes.
The yen is up around 9.5% against the dollar this year, despite negative rates in Japan.
We are in a broad based soft dollar environment, and given the yen is cheap in relation to its long-term fundamentals, it is not surprising it is outperforming.
12.09pm BST
Love this Wurst AGM bust up ever (Die heisse Schlacht am Daimler Buffet) https://t.co/znQhTcqeeM
and Reinhard Mey https://t.co/q34UMaiFNT
12.02pm BST
Dublin Airport is pressing ahead with plans for a second runway, in a sign of Ireland's reviving fortunes.
Last year was the busiest year ever in the airport's history with a record 25 million passengers travelling in 2015. Passenger numbers continue to grow strongly in 2016 with double digit growth recorded in the first two months of this year.
The north runway will significantly improve Ireland's connectivity which plays a critical role in growing passenger numbers and sustaining the future economic development of Ireland.
11.28am BST
A US recession is now "virtually inevitable" according to Societe Generale's resident bear, Albert Edwards.
Despite risk assets enjoying a few weeks in the sun our failsafe recession indicator has stopped flashing amber and turned to red. Newly released US whole economy profits data show a gut wrenching slump.
Whole economy profits never normally fall this deeply without a recession unfolding. And with the US corporate sector up to its eyes in debt, the one asset class to be avoided - even more so than the ridiculously overvalued equity market - is US corporate debt. The economy will surely be swept away by a tidal wave of corporate default.
11.13am BST
Japanese interest rates go negative, and the yen *rises* against the dollar. Now ain't that weird? https://t.co/aKoEluYDjE
10.58am BST
Earlier gains have faded away and most indices are slightly down. The FTSE 100 is down just a touch (4 points) at 6,157.
European equities and US stock index futures are coming off their best levels following yesterday's sharp oil-inspired rally. While crude prices have held on to recent gains, boosted to a great extent by a surprise drop in US inventories, traders are looking past these this morning and worrying about FX moves. Specifically their concerns focus on the relentless surge in the Japanese yen.
The currency is sharply higher again this morning. The rally has gained momentum since the USDJPY broke decisively below 110.00 yesterday and the euro is also sharply lower against the yen this morning.
10.44am BST
The European Central Bank is prepared to inject more stimulus if necessary, according to top policymakers.
Writing in the ECB's annual report, the bank's president Mario Draghi said 2016 would be another challenging year.
We face uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy. We face continued disinflationary forces. And we face questions about the direction of Europe and its resilience to new shocks.
If further adverse shocks were to materialise, our measures could be recalibrated once more commensurate with the strength of the headwind.
10.27am BST
UK productivity slumped in the final quarter of 2015 according to the latest official figures.
Output per hour fell 1.2% in the last three months of the year, compared with the previous quarter. It was the biggest drop since the end of 2008, and reversed a 0.6% in the third quarter.
The market seems to be taking this in its stride, which is understandable. The Brexit vote has tied the BoE's hands for the time being. If an imminent rate hike was on a knife edge, this data release would have just pushed the hike into the long grass.
But with a rate hike a distant prospect, this release merely confirms the market thinking. If the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee weren't in a rush to hike rates before, they won't be after this release.
UK productivity falls at the fastest rate since the global crisis. Via @BruceReuters pic.twitter.com/tHjc3eYKzn
10.00am BST
Over in Germany, the latest Daimler AGM took a rather unsavoury turn when two shareholders had a row over the buffet sausages and police were called.
We had to call the police to settle the matter.
Either we need more sausages or we drop the sausages completely.
9.18am BST
A little more on the new M&S boss Steve Rowe.
Steve Rowe on using term 'clothing and home' rather than general merchandise: 'We're going to start referring to GM in customer langauage.'
Despite Bolland's supposed focus on GM, sales have fallen again at M&S. Let's see if Rowe can do better. Need to simplify product offering.
Blower's retail cartoon: New M&S boss Rowe targets fashion turnaround https://t.co/VnZvMeqndb ()
Reviewing M&S clothing is like watching schoolboy football. All the Sub-brands chasing the same ball, Rowe needs to get his whistle out.
8.48am BST
Steve Rowe, the man newly in charge of Marks & Spencer, has given his first trading update since taking over the top job on Saturday.
8.29am BST
Europe's main markets are mostly up this morning, boosted by the Fed's signal that it is in no immediate hurry to raise rates again.
8.12am BST
Now for some reaction to those Fed minutes. As always its a case of reading between the lines and much of the language is open to interpretation.
Steve Murphy, US economist at Capital Economics:
Although the minutes acknowledge that a few officials were ready to raise interest rates in April, many thought that the Fed should precede more cautiously, in particular because of worries about global downside risks.
At this stage, the chances of an April rate hike are very slim, but we expect the Fed will resume raising rates in June.
As suspected the US Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes painted a picture of a divided central bank, but what was clear is that [while] there is some appetite to pull the trigger on a rate rise in April it is a sentiment that is not shared amongst the majority of the voting members on the committee.
"A range of views" was expressed about the likelihood of a move in April, but it is clear that policymakers are concerned about the volatility that has rippled through markets for a good part of this year.
Mkts got no clue from Fed min's. Not as dovish as Yellen but still plus&minuses. Next hike priced for Dec, as before pic.twitter.com/0N6z2FrUd9
Fed minutes summary. pic.twitter.com/CFPJTzLtCO
7.58am BST
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets and business.
The US Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates at its April meeting, the latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) suggest.
A number of participants judged that the headwinds restraining growth and holding down the neutral rate of interest were likely to subside only slowly. In light of this expectation and their assessment of the risks to the economic outlook, several expressed the view that a cautious approach to raising rates would be prudent or noted their concern that raising the target range as soon as April would signal a sense of urgency they did not think appropriate.
In contrast, some other participants indicated that an increase in the target range at the Committee's next meeting might well be warranted if the incoming economic data remained consistent with their expectations for moderate growth in output, further strengthening of the labor market, and inflation rising to 2% over the medium term.
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